Timeline Event » 1957 – Western Theatre Ballet established
Peter Darrell, an original member of Sadler’s Wells Theatre Ballet, left the company in 1947 to dance in musicals whilst choreographing for Marie Rambert’s Ballet Workshop amongst other...
companies » Scottish Ballet
Timeline Event » 1969 – Scottish Theatre Ballet (later Scottish Ballet) established
In 1969, Peter Darrell accepted an invitation to relocate the company he opened with Elizabeth West – Western Theatre Ballet – to Glasgow, becoming Scottish Theatre Ballet. This marked...
First performed in 1970 at His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen, for his Giselle Peter Darrell directed an unusually logical treatment of the drama and adapted the traditional choreography to fit a...
Timeline Event » 1971 – Premiere of Peter Darrell’s Othello by New London Ballet
In 1971 Peter Darrell took Shakespeare’s tragedy and conceived Othello, a powerful and dramatic one-act ballet for New London Ballet. It was later performed by Scottish Ballet in 1978. The...
Timeline Event » 1980 – Premiere of Peter Darrell’s Chéri by Scottish Ballet
Based on the novel by Colette, Peter Darrell created Chéri for Scottish Ballet’s appearance at the Edinburgh International Festival in 1980. With a commissioned score by David Earl, and designs by...
Timeline Event » 1991 – Galina Samsova becomes director of Scottish Ballet
Galina Samsova was artistic director of Scottish Ballet from 1991 until 1997. There, she collaborated with choreographer Oleg Vinogradov of the Kirov Ballet, mounted new productions of Swan Lake and...
Timeline Event » 1997 – New premises for dance companies
The millennium years and the 2010s can be seen as a time when investment within British dance went not to artistic output, but to infrastructure in the form of new facilities for dance companies....
Timeline Event » 1999 – Robert North becomes director of Scottish Ballet
When Galina Samsova stepped down as director of Scottish Ballet, she was replaced by Robert North in 1999.
Timeline Event » 2002 – Ashley Page becomes director of Scottish Ballet
In 2002, Scottish Ballet was searching for a new artistic director who would help revitalise the company. They appointed choreographer and former Royal Ballet principal Ashley Page, who remained in...
Timeline Event » 2012 – Christopher Hampson becomes director of Scottish Ballet
In 2012, Christopher Hampson became artistic director of Scottish Ballet, combining that role with that of CEO from 2015. There, he has presented works from many leading choreographers, including...
Timeline Event » 2017 – Kenneth MacMillan Celebration
From the 18 October until 1 November 2017, the Royal Opera House combined the talents of all five of Britain’s major classical ballet companies for the first time to celebrate the 25th anniversary...
Photography has continually transformed itself, like all the other arts. How has this affected the photography of ballet? When I joined Scottish Ballet in 1977 Peter Darrell organised a Choreographic...